A mix of historical fiction, fantasy and fairy tale. I shouldn’t have liked it … but I did.
Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth
This book weaves together three stories – that of Charlotte Rose de la Force, who is banished to a nunnery in 1697 when she displeases the King of France, a young girl who is locked in a tower, and her capturer. The stories of the young girl and the woman who imprisons her are based on Rapunzel – which was actually written by Charlotte de la Force who was a real character.
This book is a strange and unusual blend of fact, fiction, fantasy and fairy tale and amazingly it works brilliantly. The book is clever and full of detail, and obviously a great deal of research went into this. It’s like nothing else I have read and it was definitely a real highlight of 2015 for me.
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